North housebuilder Persimmon is the latest firm to face a shareholder revolt over massive payments proposed for top executives.

The company, which was founded by Northumberland landowner Duncan Davidson, has proposed that its executives could share more than £600m in shares in a bonus scheme that would be one of the most generous the City has ever seen.

But now a leading investor has called on the company to reduce the payments, which could see chief executive Jeff Fairburn earn more than £100m.

Mike Fox, from Royal London Asset Management, said the payments were too high and called on Persimmon to show restraint in the light of the UK housing crisis.

Persimmon says that it is well ahead of targets set when it first proposed the bonus scheme and that its share price has more the tripled.

A number of large payouts to company executives have been questioned in recent weeks, with the packages offered to heads of BP, advertising firm WPP and consumer giant Reckitt Benckiser all being criticised.

Persimmon responded to the criticism with a statement that said: “This is a long-term plan that runs for almost a decade, which is designed to drive outperformance through the housing cycle and to incentivise the management to deliver the capital return, grow the business and increase the share price,” they said.